


Past Tense

by Cartoongore



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life, half life but the ai is self aware
Genre: Adoption, Black Mesa Sweet Voice, Coomer is the dad of one whole sad virus clown, Gen, self awareness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartoongore/pseuds/Cartoongore
Summary: fake benry backstory lets get it gamers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	Past Tense

It was a normal day at Black Mesa, until all the computers crashed at the exact same time, around 10 AM. They were all stuck on a bluescreen, and no amount of IT intervention made it go away. The scientists who relied on these computers decided collectively to see if they could wait it out, hoping things would go back to normal on their own. 

And then, at around noon, the lights started flickering. Nothing could fix this either. Some scientists reported hearing “Aw man bro, I’m sorry bro, sorry dude I’ll fix it bro”, followed by the nearest electronic device glitching out and catching fire. These incidents were isolated at first, but then they seemed to be happening to everyone. 

And then, at 1PM, everything went black. There was no more light in Black Mesa, except for a single pair of glowing yellow eyes roaming the halls. The scientists concluded whatever this thing was, it was responsible for everything that happened today. It was also concluded this thing had malicious intentions, and must be handled carefully. 

Dr. Coomer, a scientist who was just hired into Black Mesa, was sent to subdue it while everybody waited in a safe and secure place. Wasn’t an ideal first day at work, but Coomer wasn’t complaining. 

He walked through the dark halls, swinging his flashlight around excitedly. He loved fighting, and he was very much looking forward to fighting this thing. 

All of the sudden, a new voice interrupted his violent thoughts. 

“Hey bro can you turn off your flashlight, it’s annoying.” 

Coomer remembered the other scientists telling him the creature said “bro” quite often (although, he was expecting an 80’s skater boy’s voice, not the voice of a small, exhausted child). And since everybody else was in hiding, this was certainly the thing he was looking for. “What are you?” Coomer yelled, getting into a fighting stance, “Fight me like a man!”

He heard a small sigh, and then a little kid in overalls and a helmet given to Black Mesa security guards stepped out of the shadows. Coomer could see them perfectly, even though it was completely dark in this hallway. They had to be no older than 11. Their skin was a pale shade of grey, and their oversized helmet covered their eyes. Their overalls had a patch sewn on the chest pocket that read “BLACK MESA JUNIOR SECURITY GUARD”. They looked as tired as they sounded. 

“Ah! Hello, baby!” 

The child threw up a peace sign. 

“What’s your name?” 

The kid didn’t answer. “What’s uh…. what’s your name?” 

“Wh-”

“What’s your name?” 

Dr. Coomer paused. “Oh! Dr. Harold Coomer, PHD!” 

“Cool.” The kid tried to walk away. Coomer grabbed them by the back of their shirt and pulled them gently back. 

“Now now, young… man?”

“Sure.” 

“Now, now young man, we can’t have you running around here! Why don’t you give me your name and we can figure things out from there?” 

The kid was getting frustrated, it was obvious. “It’s uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-” 

They kept going with their drawn out “uh”. It seemed like they never needed to breathe. Coomer made a mental note to tell the other scientists that the thing causing all the problems was clearly not human. And that they’re apparently a Black Mesa security guard. 

“Uhhhhhhh… Benry.” 

“Hello, Benrey!”

“Yo what’s up Coomer.” 

“Let’s get you somewhere safe, hm? It is quite obvious to me that you need rest!” 

“Whaaaaat? No man you’re c-” Benry promptly passed out by Coomer’s feet. They were already snoring the second they hit the ground. Coomer smiled and scooped them up, carrying them back to the scientists’ safe spot. 

After a little interrogation (and persuading Benry to put the lights back on), the scientists managed to find out four things about Benrey; 

  1. They were a virus that affected video games. They got upset whenever someone tried to ask them more questions about it. 
  2. They had a power known as ‘Sweet Voice’- they would sing and colorful orbs would come from their mouth. Depending on color and frequency, they could mean different things- lots of scientists ended up getting “lots of blue” when they asked about Benry’s past- a gesture that apparently meant “I hate you”. 
  3. They really liked playing video games. They always played them wrong. But god, did they love it. 
  4. They were a security guard. Yes. They had their training. Look, they got a big helmet and their very own ~overall patch~



Benry obviously didn’t belong in Black Mesa. They were an eleven year old, self-aware, anthropomorphic virus pretending to be a security guard. But Coomer was adamant about letting him stay. He shared his room with the little bastard child, and eventually persuaded the Head of Security to humor Benrey for their 12th “birthday” by letting them be a security guard for the day. Much to everybody’s surprise, Coomer managed to raise Benrey semi-successfully within the depths of Black Mesa. 

Until one day, Coomer came back to his room to see his adopted child, now 17, in tears. A Sweet Voice surrounded the room. It was yellow to pink to black.

“Benrey! What’s wrong?” He instantly ran to his side. 

“The game’s gonna start!” The teenager cried, “We’re all gonna… I don’t want this to end, man..” 

Coomer didn’t know how to respond. He just pulled the teenager into a hug. 

A few seconds later, everything went black. 

Benrey awoke at a door. He turned to another security guard. No reaction. No dirty look. Benry just took a deep breath, and waited for Gordon to come running down the hall. 


End file.
